RE: Renaultsport Megane 250: PH Fleet

[BAZ_C]

That is fookin' well nice!!!!

Always wanted a RS Megane, but commuting and kids got in the way.

One day, goddamn it, one day...

[cheddar]

Am I reading it right that just a map, cooler and exhaust have added over 70bhp and 110 lbft torque?

[culpz]

TameRacingDriver said:

culpz said:

It depends as what you class as "fairly pricey". I'd say that they're a real bargain for the money. I've seen them as cheap as 7.5k, but you probably wouldn't want one at that price. 10k is probably the going rate for something with low-ish miles and well looked after.

It's made more difficult though if you're wanting the specific and "perfect spec" one i.e. Cup pack (LSD etc), Visibility pack (Xenons etc), Recaro's, RS Monitor, Dual Zone Climate, ect. Then you could be heading into the 12k territory.

I'd honestly not be too bothered and just get one that's been cared for by the previous owner(s) and been to a well-renowned Renault specialist to have the major work done, like the cambelt done and etc. Anything else is a bonus for me.

To be fair, anything much over shed money is pricey to me these days Considering that any car of its age is going to start needing work (especially a Renault) means it's not a cheap ownership proposition for me anyway... Just the way things are nowadays though, agree, on the grand scheme of things, probably not THAT expensive.

I know what you mean. 10k is a fair wack of money to spend on a car, in my current situation. However, I still maintain that they're fantastic value and are proper, engaging hot-hatches; especially if you compare them to the latest batch of hyper-hatches.

It's worth stating that these iterations of Renaultsport Megane's are remarkably reliable. The Megane 225's were known to have many electrical gremlins/issues and were fairly pricey to run. You will struggle to hear such qualms with the 250/265.

Edited by culpz on Thursday 23 November 17:45

[BenLowden]

cheddar said:

Am I reading it right that just a map, cooler and exhaust have added over 70bhp and 110 lbft torque?

You're forgetting the £30 universal Ramair air filter! But basically yes, they're really tuneable cars. A hybrid turbo and 630cc injectors should see 350/360hp and 400lb ft but it definitely doesn't need any more power. I believe stock internals are good for 400/400.

[Itsallicanafford]

Here's our 275 Cup-S with the Rallye it replaced behind it. There were a few months overlap before the 106 was sold, two great cars...



Quick trip to Spa with my brothers CSL in tow...with the ohlins on the (ex) ring record settings The Meg did it's best but the CSL rinsed it!

The meg is a great car, it comes more alive the harder you push it on the track...

[Save the manuals]

Such a great car! I use my 265 Cup as a daily driver and have covered 27'000 miles in little less than two years. Completely faultless but has a habit of eating it's tires...

Long time plans includes Öhlins suspension, swapping the OEM 19" for lightweight 18" alloys and upgrading the stereo. Oh, and attending a few trackdays next summer. This one is a keeper!




Großglockner Hochalpenstraße, one of the highlights so far!

[Bowen86]

Butter Face said:

Nice car, Extreme blue is a rare old colour too!

Cheers Butter Face, I wasn’t sure at first but the Blue has grown on me. 1/26 in the country and 1/18 Cup Chasis Cars.

[Butter Face]

Bowen86 said:

Butter Face said:

Nice car, Extreme blue is a rare old colour too!

Cheers Butter Face, I wasn’t sure at first but the Blue has grown on me. 1/26 in the country and 1/18 Cup Chasis Cars.

Yeah I knew they were pretty rare, I’ve never seen an extreme blue one in the flesh.

The French police had them as cars in extreme blue, they looked awesome..

[nickfrog]

Butter Face said:

The French police had them as cars in extreme blue, they looked awesome..

Indeed, even if they were Gendarmes rather than Police.

[MikeGoodwin]

cheddar said:

Am I reading it right that just a map, cooler and exhaust have added over 70bhp and 110 lbft torque?

I think Renault were quite reserved with their figures. Lot of people say anything but an RS tuning map is pointless and in fact 275 owners that ran the off the shelf maps from certain companies ended up with less power.

My 275 cupped nav will keep up with an s3 and golf r in a straight line (300hp). I remember the Chris Harris reviews back in the day where EVO pitted the 250 against the mk2 Focus RS and even then they suggested the dyno figures were higher than claimed...

Love that blue btw. I've a Flame Red like that cup s above but I think that blue is the best. Oyster is lovely in real life too.

[DoubleD]

Apparently all these cars have more power than Renault said they had.

[SidewaysSi]

I would happily have had one if these but I wanted RWD so went the BMW route.

Great cars though.

[CraigV6]

Great cars these, had a 250 with Cup back in the day, now, after dabbling with a few Audi S and RS, have a 275 Cup-S which I am enjoying more than any of the Audi’s I had.
Incredibly good cars out of the box, so I’d imagine can handle tweaking relatively well.

[nickfrog]

SidewaysSi said:

I would happily have had one if these but I wanted RWD so went the BMW route.

I went the other way as the Renault is more neutral out of the box than an M135i even with M4 LCAs...

[CABC]

Itsallicanafford said:

Quick trip to Spa with my brothers CSL in tow...with the ohlins on the (ex) ring record settings The Meg did it's best but the CSL rinsed it!

different cars, different generation but I thought it might be closer than "rinsed"
Spa is fast though. Maybe it would be more equal in a UK circuit ?

[Itsallicanafford]

CABC said:

Itsallicanafford said:

Quick trip to Spa with my brothers CSL in tow...with the ohlins on the (ex) ring record settings The Meg did it's best but the CSL rinsed it!

different cars, different generation but I thought it might be closer than "rinsed"
Spa is fast though. Maybe it would be more equal in a UK circuit ?

Maybe closer at brans indy or another smaller UK track...At Spa there is just no where to hide for long stretches of the track, from the top of the La source to the end of the kemmel straight with the exception of a *cough* confidence lift at Eau rouge it's flat out for the best part of 2 kilometres, and the kemmel is uphill all the way (and it's steep!) you just need power, and the more powerful and lighter CSL starts to walk away...add to that he running full AP's so he is carring more speed and braking later at the end of straight...the infield section would be closer but then the meg gets its arse handed to it along the back straight and into the bus stop!

[roadie]

I completely missed this blog. It and all the comments are a great read!

I really enjoy my 265 Cup. My only real criticisms are the poor fuel economy at motorway speeds and some occasional creaking from the rear.

[BenLowden]

roadie said:

I completely missed this blog. It and all the comments are a great read!

I really enjoy my 265 Cup. My only real criticisms are the poor fuel economy at motorway speeds and some occasional creaking from the rear.

Thank you! Next update should be coming within the next couple of weeks.

[roadie]

OK sweet! Will there be a breakdown of costs so far? I'm looking into getting my 6 year service done in March and am trying to find a specialist after being quoted £1,250 by my local Renault service centre!

[BenLowden]

roadie said:

OK sweet! Will there be a breakdown of costs so far? I'm looking into getting my 6 year service done in March and am trying to find a specialist after being quoted £1,250 by my local Renault service centre!

Is there anything specific you'd like to know costs on? Drop me a PM, more than happy to help. I paid £550 for my cambelt, waterpump and dephaser at Midland Renault Specialist (Mark Black) and had the ball joints done at the same time for preventative measure (£130 per corner). Had to take a day off to go up there but I tied it into going to RS Tuning for my map and saved a significant amount of money compared to local garages.